


Smoke

by Dr_Roslin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: And Noir, And Rescue, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Cmon its basically a disney fic, Dragon AU, F/M, HEA, Inspired by my microfic, Just comfort, Lost princes and all, Monsters, No Pregnancy, character death is snoke, making it up, treasure, we love to see it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26199256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Roslin/pseuds/Dr_Roslin
Summary: Rey walks into a dingy basement dive bar owned by Snoke and lays waste to it and Kylo's heart.It is not for monsters to question their masters.A Dragon AU drabble prompted by my reylo microfic from August (I'm at@RandomBks), where the prompt was 'Smoke.'He knew she was trouble when she walked in. You didn’t often meet a dragon in their human form, but he would’ve known her true self even without the faint tang of smoke that lingered.Later, as Snoke lay dead at her feet, he wondered how long it would be until she made him burn.pic.twitter.com/qHSJxsesW2— Random Books of Known Origin (@RandomBks)August 18, 2020
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Smoke

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eirenare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eirenare/gifts).



> As some of you know, this originated as a twitfic and for reasons passing understanding - I'm an idiot - a large chunk in the middle, like half, didn't get transferred so I'm fixing that here. 
> 
> My apologies if I end up spamming you with a fic you've already read. If you're seeing this for the first time, well, I hope you enjoy it!

The dive bar smelled of beer, smoke and cheap perfume, and the floor was a sticky beneath his feet. It was late, now, long past twilight and he could let out a small sigh, relieved.

Snoke never liked the day, was always afraid the sunlight would damage his treasures, and as the day faded, they could all breathe a little easier.

Kylo, though, had other reasons to welcome the way the daytime breezes that slipped through the doors morphed into nightly drafts.

It was easier, as the early evening light waned, for him to resist the urge to walk outside and bask in the warm sun the way his body yearned to.

Easier, then, to listen to the voices whispering in his ear, the ones that ones that reminded him it was safer that he stayed in the Dark.

Listen to the voice that whispered in his ear and kept him on track; that kept him safe. Protected.

_‘Better, my boy. I’m so glad you’ve come to see the wisdom of my advice. It’s best you stay here, where I can help you. Safer.’_

Where Snoke could take care of him. So everyone would be safe.

Monsters weren’t allowed to walk the streets freely, after all.

So he’s glad, when the night comes and the temptation fades, and the only light other than the harsh fluorescents comes from the moon peeping through the dingy windows.

Glad to stay here in the dark and serve, fulfill his purpose. It’s what he’s good at, after all.

He’s behind the bar, as he usually is these nights, listening to the grumbling of his fellow adherents to his Master’s Code, those lucky enough to be taken in by him, when the nighttime drafts coming in from under the door blow a little harder and usher her in.

She’s trouble, he can see it. Knows it the moment she walks in. He has eyes, after all, and he’s suddenly grateful for that, for their ability to allow him to take in her every detail through the haze and the smoke in the dim light his Master prefers.

Trouble.

Trouble that belies her slight form. Trouble hinted at by her height, the strength of her figure. Trouble seen in her hazel eyes, fierce and focused in the haze of this dodgy dive bar on the wrong side of the tracks.

Trouble announced by the barely noticeable hint of smoke that follows her.

Smoke.

The smell of it lingering as she moved. That he can smell, even across the room, through the nastiness of cheap perfume and watered down day-old beer and the odor of bodies never seeming to get fully clean.

You didn’t often meet a dragon in their human form; they were notoriously reclusive, preferring to curl up in their caves with their treasures, the better to hide it, protect it from the light of day.

Snoke rarely took on his true form, any more, but he was exceptional in so many ways.

_‘There are many forms of power, my apprentice, remember that. Remember how effective they all can be.’_

Maybe. Or maybe it was how much he enjoyed watching his flock squirm as he corrected them, enjoyed the intimacy of looking them in the eye as he did so.

Kylo did his best to ignore the doubts that sometimes plagued him.

It is not for monsters to question their masters.

There had been a time, Kylo, too, had wielded the power; of transformation, of fire. But no - no longer, he’s sworn it, after everything, after -

Han. 

He’d sworn that day he was through. With that life, that power, as his mother wept crystalline tears and he’d ran, returning to the safety of his Master’s teachings.

To the balance he’d helped him achieve, the strength he’d drilled into him, to ignore the call of light, of fire.

Still, he’d have known her true form anywhere, even without the smell of the smoke that lingers. Felt the call of her power, no matter the extent of the distance that separated them.

We are the same, it whispers.

You are not alone.

We are One.

Now he can only watch, as if disinterested, as she takes out the penitents who rush her. Destroys them with fire and sword, disposes of every obstacle in her paths to his Master. Every obstacle but him, though he yet remains frozen as the two predators in the room assess their foe.

'You are stronger than even I’d dared hope, young one. Stronger than you know. Join me. I will mold that raw untamed power into something truly remarkable. Take my hand.’

‘I’m not here for your power, old man. Or your gold. You’re a monster. You know why I’m here.'

She looks Snoke with disdain gleaming from her eye.

‘It’s time.’

Watching the two circle each other from the sidelines - he’d no memory of jumping the bar, was it after she’d killed the first two guards? The five? - Kylo couldn’t help but stare, hardly breathing, afraid to set them off.

If she wasn’t here for Snoke, why was she here?

‘You can’t win, child. He’s made his choice. He stays with me,' Snoke tells the interloper, almost purring.

'Isn’t that right, my apprentice?’

Kylo stares, forced once again to consider his role in this story. She was here for him? He’d known Trouble would come for him, one day.

‘Master?’

He hadn’t known Trouble could come in the shape of her.

Hadn’t known how much he’d welcome it. That he’d know her smile before he’s even seen it, knows how it will curve her face.

He'd thought of how it will beckon him, when she chooses to grant him that smile; how it will warm him.

He thinks of all the times he’s pushed his knowledge of Snoke’s cruelty down deep in his soul, what there is of it, where it can’t reach him.

And yet - he’s a monster, too, isn’t he? Isn’t that he’s here, for Snoke’s guidance, for his training? So he won’t ACT like a monster, with needless destruction, needless cruelty?

If he was destined to be a monster, he should give it a purpose. Use it, do better.

Shouldn’t he?

She never looks away from Snoke - never takes her eyes off her prey - but it’s him she’s speaking to when she says a single word, so softly he’s almost afraid he misheard at first.

‘Alderaan.’

As clear as day, as clear as if she’d spoken directly into his mind (she might have, though he doesn’t know how he would have heard it, it’s a skill reserved only for those who deserve it), she tells him why she’s really here.

Who sent her.

Snoke was wrong; it’s not a raid or a burglary or a coup.

It’s not about gold or power; those things mean nothing to her.

It’s a rescue mission.

Ben Solo makes his choice.

Later, as Snoke lay dead at her feet, as she helped him rise, from the same position, exhausted from joining his power with hers to destroy his former Master, as she wrapped her arms around him in celebration and reassurance and comfort, he smells it again.

The smoke that lingered on her, from her true form. From theirs. The smell of smoke and fire and the sun and the sky.

The smell of freedom. Of home.

He wondered how long it would be until she made him burn.

He prays it won’t be long. He’s tired of waiting to find his happily-ever-after and his family and his purpose.

It’s time for him to claim it.


End file.
